Charged on a dormant account

I signed the Mashreq bank current account application given by my Human Resources (HR) in March 2009. After a week, my HR informed me that Mashreq did not agree for a zero balance account, so he told me to open the account with Emirates NBD.

Meanwhile, a Mashreq representative processed my application and opened the current account under my name. But, I didn’t receive any intimation regarding this account. Normally, the bank issues a welcome kit along with debit card to customers but I haven’t received anything from Mashreq.

In 2014, I requested a credit card from Mashreq, and they issued one to me. While registering for online banking for my credit card, I was surprised to know there is current account under my name. I went to the branch to enquire about this. They replied that the account had become inactive so it was better to leave it. They assured that it won’t become a problem for me. They didn’t inform me any charges.

Now, every month, I am getting an e-statement, no such charges were mentioned. However, since last two months my e-statement shows an extra charge of around Dh2,740 while the account status showed dormant. The e-statement is also not accessible due to a wrong password given by the bank. I have tried through customer care, they couldn’t resolve the issue. Finally I opened the statement using a password software. Since I didn’t get any service/facility with the current account provided by Mashreq, they are charging me with service charges.

I am seeking Gulf News’ help to close my dormant current account in Mashreq and waive off the service fees.

From Mr Siva Sankarapandi

Ajman

The management of Mashreq responds: Thank you for sharing Mr Siva Sankarapandi’s concern with us.

We have reviewed the concerns raised by Mr Sankarapandi regarding the charges accumulated on his current account.

Our investigation reveals that Mr Sankarapandi has an account with us since May ’09 and was not maintaining the minimum balance in his account due to which the charges were levied on the account as per the schedule of charges. The charges went on hold since he did not have sufficient funds in his account.

We have recently amended our statements format and started showing these accumulated charges in the monthly statement.

We have dropped the charges on hold as a goodwill gesture as Mr Sankarapandi wishes to close his account.

We have contacted Mr Sankarapandi and informed him to visit the nearest Mashreq branch for the closure of account and he is satisfied with the prompt response.

We take this opportunity to thank Gulf News once again for bringing a customer issue to our notice.

Mr Sankarapandi responds: Thanks for your support Gulf News. The issue is resolved.

(Process initiation: February 26. Response from organisation: February 26. Reader confirmation: February 28.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.

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